What does “like” mean to you on FB?
I use the “like” button by leaving it strictly alone.
Personally, I have to really like something to make the effort to click. If I don’t click, it doesn’t mean I dislike what you may have said - I just didn’t feel moved by it.
I think if there was an option for “You’re an idiot, and you’ve proven it by posting this” I’d chose it a lot.
I’m probably 30/70 on A) vs B) - most of the time, I try to “pay it back” if I have someone that consistently “acknowledges” stuff/pictures that I post, then I’ll try to at least acknowledge stuff that they post, within reason.
Of course if someone puts up something that makes me chuckle, then I’ll definitely “Like” it, if not comment on it.
The ones I specifically scroll right on past, are the “fishing for Likes” statuses… “I have the greatest life and I wouldn’t change a thing!!”… or the cryptic “oh well that just sux!!” ones, where I guess I’m supposed to ask, “Oh No!! What happened?!”
They should almost change it to “acknowledged”. I think it’s funny when someone posts “My mom died 3 weeks ago today and I still can’t stop crying” or “I feel so bad for Sammy, he’s only 3 and he’s been up all night puking” and it get 19 likes. Her mom died and you like that?
If I like something enough to hit that button, 8 times out of 10, I’ll find something to say.
Of course, I’ve been known to pile on one more ‘like’ when a friend posts “Alex learned to ride a bike today” or something like that.
As a weapon!
I mostly use it mean “more LIKE this”–to get more items like that one to appear on my newsfeed. But I do occasionally use it to mean I like something, and never to just acknowledge something, so I went with the first option.
“That’s a cute picture of your kid / pet / vacation setting.”
But that’s . . . that’s . . . that’s ANARCHY!!!
Or is that Nihilism?
It’s for acknowledging things others feel are important without having to write something of your own. Like when an acquaintance runs a marathon or has a kid but you aren’t close enough to credibly say anything personalized but you still want the person know you do take the time to keep up with them.
That’s about it. It lets others know you’re not just blazing past important news from their lives.
I use the like button very sparingly. Basically, if I have have something to say, I’ll that and that will provide full context of my feelings on something. I’ll generally just like something if it’s something I don’t feel compelled to write a response to, often on public pages I’m a fan of, or occasionally a photo or link that I don’t feel requires an actual response.
“Like” means I read/looked at your whatever but can’t be arsed to spend time commenting.
It depends. There’s no Like archive and I’m not going to have to justify them ever so if I really do like something, I’ll click like, but I’ll also do it if I think the larger the number the better they’ll feel regardless of my level of caring.
The first and the second.
The first one when I like something.
The second one I often use when you get sort of chatty, but the conversation is over. I then “like” the last comment the other person made.
For me, “liking” something, and / or commenting on something is a two step process.
I ‘like’ something for the reasons mentioned above. To support when I don’t really have anything to add, etc.
However, thanks to a great add-on for FireFox iMacros for FireFox, I routinely delete almost every bit of my activity older than a few weeks. I undo my likes, I untag my name from photos, I delete my old posts on threads. It’s hard to keep up with; but I hate the idea of someone going through all my old history regardless of how vanilla it is.
Liking stuff just encourages my friends to post more inane crap, though I did like an old vendor at the request of an old boss because it reminded me of when I had job skills.
I usually comment to these sorts of posts along the lines of “I can’t Like this because it’s so horrible. But I feel for you.” Just so the person posting knows I’ve seen it and empathise without saying I like that her mother has died.
A friend of mine works for MSF and I find myself unable to ‘Like’ most of what she posts because it’s so sad/horrible/infuriating etc. So I comment more than I ‘Like’ on her posts.
“I read it, appreciated it, but don’t have anything to add, but I’m clicking this just so you’ll know that I saw it.”
All of the above (well, except the ones that never use Like). I use it as Skinnerian positive reinforcement to encourage A) the software and B) the person to show me more posts of that type (and less vaguebooking or temper tantrums). I use it because something made me laugh or cry, as intended. I use it when I would like a conversation to end now, but not on poor terms. I use it when someone posts something to my Timeline that doesn’t really inspire comment, but I want them to know I appreciate that they thought of me enough to Share it or post it with me. And I use it when, well, when I *like *something.
For the “my mother died” kind of posts where I have nothing useful to say, but I feel sympathy and would like the person to know I’m thinking about them, and to respond to the “please send energy/prayers/thoughts” or the “I’m so worried about ABC right now!” kinds of posts, I tend to use a heart symbol in the comments.
First & second.
I have a restricted page pretty much.
My friends are smart enough to know that ‘Like’ in the post about their new boat is a real ‘I like it.’
My friends are smart enough to know that ‘Like’ in the post about something bad, but not bad enough to write a second response to is acknowledging that I saw it.
I actually reply to a lot of my friends posts using a very few words. 
They know that I know that they are worried about their sick kid & I am glad they let me know in the easiest way for them to inform the most folks the quickest. :eek:
They don’t want a whole paragraph about how I am so sad, am praying and pouring ashes on my head & am ready to drop everything & come to their aide. They already know they need only to hint that they need me & it will happen. If they need it written out, they are not on my face book page. 